DURHAM ― The Coe-Brown Northwood Academy boys basketball team went into Wednesday night as a double-digit seed in the Division II semifinals for the second straight year.

They left with their second straight semifinal loss.

No. 1 and undefeated Pembroke was all over the Bears from late in the first quarter on, and quickly squelched any hope of an upset, doubling up No. 13 Coe-Brown 62-31 before a packed house at the University of New Hampshire's Lundholm Gymnasium.

“We lost to a better team tonight, unfortunately,” said Coe-Brown coach Dave Smith. “They scored a lot of points on transition against us. (When) you get behind the basket gets a little smaller and when you get ahead and the basket gets a little bigger. That makes a different.”

Pembroke will face No. 7 Souhegan (14-7) in Saturday's championship game (noon). The Sabers were a 53-45 upset winner over No. 2 Lebanon (16-5) in the first semifinal of the night.

The Bears will probably be having nightmares for a while about Pembroke's Patrick Welch, who torched Coe-Brown for 28 points on 12 for 16 shooting. He was 9 for 10 from the field in the first half with a pair of 3-point bombs for 21 points as Pembroke built a 32-18 lead after two quarters.

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Mike Whaley/Democrat photo
Coe-Brown coach Dave Smith knows things aren't going well late in the game as Pembroke's Rene Maher handles the ball in the foreground during Division II semifinal action Wednesday in Durham.

“They just came to play tonight,” said Coe-Brown's Andrew Langdon, who was the Bears' top scorer with 10 points. “They were shooting very well and they're obviously a really good team. Their transition killed us and we didn't get our shots. They were just shooting lights out, and they were playing good defense too.”

The Bears, who were seeking their first title-game appearance since 2002, finished the season at 10-11.

Coe-Brown kept things close in the first quarter on Wednesday night, at one point going on an 11-3 run that put them ahead 11-8 with three minutes to go. The stretch included a 3-pointer by Chris Laurion and a fallaway jumper by Josh Jackman.

Then a bad turnover by Coe-Brown, then a bad foul on the breakaway and a good layup by the Spartans' Rene Maher tied the game 11-11.

“That was a critical point,” Smith said. “Against them, we had to play near perfect.”

The turnover and subsequent points sparked a 12-0 run for Pembroke that stretched into the second quarter, and it was pretty much downhill from there for the Bears.

“It was turnovers,” said Laurion, who finished with eight points. “We didn't run back on defense. Transition just killed us.”

There was hope for the Bears before the game. Not only had Coe-Brown upset the then-third-seeded Spartans out of last year's tournament, they played Pembroke close in a 43-37 regular-season loss. But whatever worked for the Bears in their last two meetings against Pembroke was nowhere to be found on Wednesday night.

“It's a big court and I'd like to think we have a little bit better athletes than Coe-Brown and some other high-school teams,” said Pembroke coach and former UNH standout Matt Alosa. “It's to our advantage to get the rebound and get out and try to push the ball. Honestly, that's what won the game tonight for us. Getting out and getting easy baskets.”

The Spartans led 42-27 after three stops and opened the fourth on a 16-2 run, putting the game well out of reach.

“We'd get a little run early, then they'd make a big shot,” Smith said. “Always had a big shot.”

Matthew Persons scored 12 for Pembroke, which shot 24 for 33 from the field for the game. Coe-Brown shot just 30 percent (12 for 39) and committed 15 turnovers to the Spartans' 18.

Pembroke last played in the championship game in 2010, when it lost 52-46 to Milford. The Spartans last won the title in 1991, when Alosa was the star and his Spartans defeated future UNH teammate Scott Drapeau and Merrimack Valley 79-61.